Previous technical difficulties related to the nation’s order of 66 F-16V jets have been overcome and the government is hopeful that it would take delivery of all of the planes by the end of 2026, the Ministry of National Defense has said.
The update was given on Friday in a written response to an inquiry from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) about a delay in the US’ delivery of US$20 billion of weapons systems Taiwan has purchased.
That delay has been partly due to the US prioritizing the supply of weapons Taiwan needs to Ukraine.
Photo: CNA
Citing a Wall Street Journal report, Lo said the delayed items include F-16Vs, Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Patriot air defense missile systems.
The ministry said that production of the F-16V jets Taiwan ordered was delayed due to development and software integration issues relating to equipment Taiwan wants installed in the aircraft.
Those issues have been resolved and production of the jets is under way, it said.
The jets should be delivered before the December 2026 deadline as agreed in the contract, it said.
The ministry said it has been working closely with teams from the US Department of State and the US Department of Defense to ensure that the delivery of the weapons, including the Harpoon missiles, the HIMARS rocket launchers and the Patriot missile systems stays on schedule.
Among the provisions in the contract are compensation clauses that set out penalties for contractors that do not meet delivery deadlines for non-force majeure reasons, it said.
Under the clauses, Taiwan would first identify damages it has sustained as a result of the delays and issue a demand for compensation to the US government through bilateral security channels, it said.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on June 17 told members of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee that Taiwan expects to take delivery of two F-16V prototypes in the fourth quarter of this year, after which the jets would undergo flight tests.
Taiwan has demanded that the US fill the order of 66 jets by the end of 2026, Koo said at the time.
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